


stranger things

by latesleeper



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Post-Canon, Strangers to Lovers, no it doesn't have anything to do with stranger things series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 20:23:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15781443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/latesleeper/pseuds/latesleeper
Summary: Kuroo wakes up alone wearing only his underwear in a room that he doesn’t recognize, then finds out that it belongs to Ushijima Wakatoshi.





	stranger things

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing UshiKuroo and damn it's nervewracking af because I found their characters are hard to write :")

The first thing that Kuroo notices when he wakes up is how different the room looks. His room and Bokuto has a bunch of posters and post-it notes, especially on Bokuto’s side, but weirdly he doesn’t find much in here.

His mind finally caught on how strange the whole situation is when he notices that he’s almost naked, only wearing his black underwear.

“Shit,” he curses loudly, trying to remember what did he do last night.

After finishing the exam week, Oikawa planned to visit his boyfriend, Iwaizumi, in Chuo and begged Kuroo and Bokuto to accompany him. At first, Kuroo rejected the idea because he wanted to sleep in instead after the hell week of two hours sleeping and a bunch of instant coffees, and they just can go there tomorrow, but Oikawa insisted on going there as soon as possible because _‘I miss Iwa-chan!’_ he said.

Bokuto, the pure-hearted and easily manipulated one, agreed to go because he knows how it feels wanting to meet with your partner whenever you have time to do so based on his relationship with Akaashi back then when Bokuto was a freshman in university and Akaashi still in his third year in high school. Usually Kuroo won’t back down that easily but of course he would eventually lose because Oikawa and Bokuto ganging up on him was really annoying and he didn’t have any choice other than saying yes, so they went to meet Iwaizumi and it ended up with them going to a house party hosted by Iwaizumi’s close friend.

He _really_ regrets doing that now.

Contrary to how he looks, Kuroo is anything but a ‘bad boy.’ The confidence air around him, the constant smirk and his effortless style make people think that he’s a person who attracts trouble. Boys always invite him to group blind date and girls flock to him because they think he’s cool.

Really, he’s not.

Kuroo is not a party animal—sure, he goes sometimes out of politeness but he rarely stays for long. He doesn’t smoke because he’s an athlete, his lungs are important to him. The same way goes to his liver so he rarely drinks either. He’s open about his sexuality as a gay person but he doesn’t like sleeping around, unlike the rumor that spread around on his first year in university. Hell, sometimes he doesn’t even sleep with the person he’s dating with because they broke up before they moved to the next level, what makes people think he will sleep with total stranger?

But looking at how he is now, that might already happen to him and he couldn’t blame anyone other than himself. He lost control of himself last night.

But did he really sleep with anyone last night?

Why does it feel like he doesn’t?

“Then why am I only wearing my underwear?” he’s muttering under his breath, confused by the whole thing.

He looks around and finds his phone on the table behind him, along with his wallet, a glass of water and pain medicine. He takes his phone but it’s dead and he doesn’t see any charger lying around so he can’t do anything about it. He doesn’t know if it’s okay to drink the water because _what if someone put something on it?_

When Kuroo gets up to find his clothes, the door suddenly opens, revealing the last person he expected to see.

Ushijima Wakatoshi still looks as intimidating as he always remembers despite him not being on the court. Kuroo assumed he’s just done with his morning jogging judging from what he’s wearing—a jacket and jogging shorts that shows a pair of strong thighs and bulging calves. Kuroo never saw such a distracting view so early in the morning.

_Get a grip, Tetsurou, this is not the time to be lusting over your opponent!_

“Kuroo Tetsurou,” Ushijima calls out his name with his husky deep voice, _God help him,_ “How do you feel?”

“Um, I’m fine,” he answers, “But... why am I here?”

“I found you last night vomiting at the sidewalk in front of Hiroshi’s house. I assumed you came here with Oikawa, Iwaizumi and Bokuto but I couldn’t find them anywhere. I tried calling Iwaizumi but he didn’t pick up so I left him a message about you and I brought you here because it’s not safe for you to go home alone.”

“So this is the Chuo’s student dorm? Wait, where did you sleep last night?”

_And why am I only wearing my underwear_ , the question left unsaid but luckily, Ushijima doesn’t leave out any details.

“My roommate went home for the weekend so I slept on his bed. You were vomiting again when we arrived and it got caught at your shirt and jeans so I took it off and washed it. I’m sorry, I hope you don’t mind.”

Kuroo shakes his head. “No no, it’s fine. At least now I know I didn’t do something I regretted last night.”

Ushijima nods at him, although Kuroo doesn’t know if he understands what he meant or not.

“Once your clothes dry you can wear it again. Meanwhile you can wear my clothes if you don’t mind,” he walks to his drawer and pulls out a shirt and sweatpants, “I put your belongings on my desk and there’s water if you’re thirsty and medicine if you need one. I can show you the bathroom and cafeteria if you want to shower or eat.”

To say that Kuroo is speechless is an understatement.

He never got a chance to know Ushijima personally before. They never met in high school and they stood on different sides when Kuroo chose to go to Todai and Ushijima to Chuo. He only knows _the_ Ushijima Wakatoshi in the court and another version of him from Oikawa’s stories, most of them are unpleasant to hear. He really doesn’t expect for Ushijima to be this… kind.

“Thank you, man. You a great help,” Kuro says, “If is it okay, can I borrow a charger? And show me the bathroom and cafeteria after that?”

“Sure.”

Ushijima gives Kuroo the clothes before he rummages through his desk and offers him the charger. “If you want to shower, you can borrow my stuff. I have a spare toothbrush.”

“Yeah, okay,” Kuroo plugs on his phone and sees the screen blinking as it starts charging.

He takes the opportunity to finally drink the water on the table while he’s waiting for his phone to turn on. Turns out he has several missed calls and messages, all of them were from Oikawa and Bokuto.

**(12:34 am) Grand King: tetsu-chan where are you?!**

**(12:34 am) Grand King: we cant find you anywhere!!**

**(12:35 am) Grand King: dont tell me**

**(12:35 am) Grand King: you were kidnapped?!?!?!?!?!**

 

**(12:36 am) BROkuto: bRO WHERE R U !!(ﾉ*ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ**

**(12:37 am) BROkuto: BRO**

**(12:37 am) BROkuto: BROO**

**(12:37 am) BROkuto: BROOOOOOOOO**

 

**(12:39 am) Grand King: NO FUCKING WAY**

**(12:39 am) Grand King: YOU ARE WITH USHIWAKA?!**

**(12:39 am) Grand King: AJDHSIAKHSIQSHIA**

**(12:39 am) Grand King: DISHONOR**

**(12:39 am) Grand King: DISHONOR ON YOU**

**(12:39 am) Grand King: DISHONOR ON YOUR COW**

Kuroo simply snorts. He sends _‘bro I’m fine don’t chu worry’_ to Bokuto and decides to tease Oikawa a little.

**(7:15 am) Kuroo: stop quoting mulan**

**(7:15 am) Kuroo: and yes I’m at ushiwaka’s ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

His phone will take time to charge so he decides to leave it and get it back later, so he quickly changes into Ushijima’s clothes and turns to him.

“Ushijima, let’s go—”

His brain short-circuited the moment he sees a shirtless Ushijima tilting his head back while drinking water from a bottle. The movement of his Adam’s apple as he’s gulping down the water, the huge biceps, the abs— _everything_ makes Kuroo’s throat goes dry.

He did notice before that Ushijima is a fine man but _damn_ , now that he’s this close to him he can see he’s more than that. He’s a fucking Adonis.

“Kuroo.”

Kuroo lets out unmanly yelp, realizing now Ushijima already change into a black t-shirt that might be two sizes smaller because it’s fucking show every line of his upper body, looking at him in confusion. “Are you ready?”

“Y-yeah, lead the way.”

“Okay.”

He gives Kuroo a small towel and other bath stuff before leading him out of the room to the communal bathroom. Once they arrive, Ushijima waits for him outside while Kuroo finally able to wash away the booze smell and sweat from his body. It doesn’t take long because Ushijima is waiting for him so less than 15 minutes, he’s already out of the bathroom, fresh and more awake than before.

“You look better,” Ushijima says.

“Well, I _do_ feel better,” Kuroo says, “I have learned my lesson. No more drinking ‘till we drop like last night.”

Ushijima hums. “Drinking is not good for your body. It will lower your performance in the court.”

“I know. I don’t like drinking either.”

Ushijima lifts his eyebrow. “Then why did you drink?”

Kuroo shrugs. “I don’t remember. I guess I got swept away, you know, letting all the stress out after exam week.”

“Was it hard?”

“Yeah, Chemistry is not exactly walk in the park,” he sighs, “I’d always wonder why I thought I could survive there.”

“But you did survive. If you’re not, you won’t be on the same faculty now.”

“Huh, I guess that’s true. Anyway, what course do you take?”

“Law.”

Kuroo lets out a low whistle. “It’s not a walk in the park either. You don’t find it hard to juggle between your study and volleyball?”

“Sometimes I do, but Shiratorizawa is also a strict school so I might have learned in a hard way.”

There’s no one on the cafeteria other than them so they get their meal immediately and take one of the tables, seating right across each other. The food is nothing special but he has no room to complain as he only able to eat here because of Ushijima so he should be thankful. At least the miso soup is decent and it helps with his empty stomach after he seems to vomit all his guts last night.

“You can ask more if you want,” Ushijima says once both of their plates are empty.

“No, it’s fine. It’s more than enough,” Kuroo declines, “But thank you so much. I don’t know what will happen if you were not there last night.”

“It’s no problem.”

Looking at Ushijima right now, relaxing after his meal, he’s still can’t believe what he just did for him. Even if it was because he just happened to be there, he’s still being a huge help to Kuroo.

“You know, you’re not someone I expected you to be,” Kuroo blurts out.

Suddenly there’s a crease between his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Kuroo thought he just said something that offended him, but then he realizes that Ushijima may not be upset at him. He’s just being curious.

“If I’m being honest with you, Oikawa never told me a good thing about you aside from your volleyball skill,” Kuroo tells him, “You always said Oikawa is wasting his potential in Seijo and should have gone to Shiratorizawa instead.”

Ushijima doesn’t say anything for a moment although his stare at Kuroo never wavers. It’s rather intimidating, but Kuroo thinks that’s just how he looks.

It’s weird that spending so little time with Ushijima making him realizing many little details that he missed before.

“Yes, I used to think like that and it kinds of childish now that I think about it,” Ushijima admits, “Now, my opinion has changed. I think everything must have happened for a reason.”

He sets his plates away before putting his hands on top of the table. “Did you know that Kageyama Tobio applied for Shiratorizawa?”

Kuroo blinks in surprised. “I didn’t know about that.”

Ushijima hums. “He did, but he didn’t get in. Then he applied for Karasuno. Do you think he would be what he is right now if he was in Shiratorizawa?”

Kuroo rests his chin on his palm. “Hmm, I don’t think so.”

“Why?”

“Maybe he would be able to grow in Shiratorizawa, but I think his growth was influenced by his teammates in Karasuno, especially chibi-chan.”

“Chibi-chan?”

“Hinata.”

“Oh, yes, Hinata Shouyou. Yes, that what I mean. I think Hinata and Kageyama are partners that able to bring the best out of each other. I think they’re still gonna be a good player individually, but they are better together.”

“Yeah, they have earned my respect.”

“Me too, although they were the opponents that I didn’t quite understand before because they didn’t play like other players. They kept doing something that surprised me.”

Kuroo chuckles. “You must have hated them before.”

“...Yes, I did.”

_God_ , honest Ushijima looks really cute in Kuroo’s eyes.

“But I agree with you. If they didn’t come to Karasuno, it might not be possible for Nekoma to meet Karasuno at National. They were of one of the reasons that it’s possible for Karasuno to fly again, and they made their teammates strived to keep getting better.”

“That’s right. It reminds me of Tsukishima Kei.”

Kuroo’s face lights up on the familiar name. “Ooh, Tsukki! Man, it’s been a while since I saw him. I heard he is the Captain of Karasuno now.”

“Yes, I heard he becomes a really good middle blocker now. It reminds me of the time he blocked my spike at the final round.”

Kuroo remembers that time. Karasuno who have found their wings again were soaring high and beaten Shiratorizawa at the final round, bringing their team as the representative for Miyagi in National. One thing that most people talked about was the tall and blond first-year middle blocker who blocked Ushijima, making them winning the second set.

“I heard he learned how to block from you,” Ushijima adds.

“Nah, I just taught him a little when we met for practice matches from back then. No big deal.”

Ushijima shakes his head. “No, I don’t think so. He has a good sense but never really stood out before. You must have taught him well for him to be as good as that. I have to say that I’d also admire you because you have a solid foundation and Tendou say you are a good example of read blocking.”

“Tendou?”

“My teammates in Shiratorizawa, he was a middle blocker as well. He didn’t play in university but sometimes he watches the matches, especially Chuo and Todai matches.”

“Ah, I see.”

Kuroo not sure if this is a dream or not, but Ushijima Wakatoshi just praised him. He said that he admires Kuroo and implied that he’s a good middle blocker.

Can this day get any strange?

“Kuroo, your face is red.”

“Huh?”

Kuroo immediately touches his face, feeling how warm his cheeks are. _Shit_ , don’t tell him he’s blushing in front of Ushijima! Damn, talk about being embarrassing.

“I’m fine! Nothing to worry about.”

Ushijima then gets up from his seat. “Then shall we go back to the room?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

The first thing Kuroo does when they’re back is checking his phone again. The battery is enough to last him for half a day so he unplugs it from the charger. He sees couple messages from Oikawa.

**(7:17 am) Grand King: O___O**

**(7:17 am) Grand King: DID YOU DO SOMETHIN WITH HIM**

**(7:18 am) Grand King: GASP**

**(7:18 am) Grand King: DID YOU SLEEP WITH HIM?!?!?!?!?!?!**

The mention of sleeping together successfully makes Kuroo’s cheeks burning. What the everloving fuck is Oikawa thinking about?!

When he about to reply, he hears a cough behind him and turns around to find Ushijima covering his mouth, his cheeks flush in red. _Don’t tell him_ —

“Did you see the message?” Kuroo asks.

He nods. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take a peek.”

“It’s fine,” Kuroo quickly says, “Sorry, sometimes Oikawa is a dumbass that only have 3 brain cells and not knowing that not every man is gay and sleep together.”

Ushijima seems to be caught off guard at that.

“You are gay?”

“Um, yeah?” Kuroo is usually confident enough to answer this kind of question but somehow, Ushijima asking him made it feel a little bit weirder, “Why?”

“Nothing, but don’t worry. I’m not homophobic, and I’m bisexual.”

“Oh... what, really? I didn’t know about that.”

He’s sure that he would hear it first from Oikawa. He’s never one to assume but Ushijima did give him a straight vibe. Maybe his gaydar is not as good as he thought.

“Yes, but I’d never have a serious relationship with a man. I have gone to a few blind dates but none of them last.”

“Because you chose volleyball over them?”

It’s likely to be the reason because some people, including Kuroo himself, got dumped because of that.

Ushijima says nothing before he nods slowly. “That’s most of the cases. The rest said I was too quiet, that it made them felt uncomfortable.”

If Kuroo didn’t just spend the past hour with Ushijima, he might have agreed with it, but now that he knows him a bit better than before, he has a different opinion.

“Maybe they didn’t know how to interpret your quietness. They didn’t know whether you like them or not so they just spent the time second-guessing your personality. Personally, I don’t feel uncomfortable with you, maybe that’s because you are similar to my childhood friend so I kind of know to handle it. He’s quiet but sometimes he can be talkative if he wants to, and I can see that from you too. Although you don’t give a long response, you are still making an effort at holding the conversation,” Kuroo explains, “I think you can just find someone who play or watch volleyball as well so your interest will be lined up, like Oikawa and Iwaizumi—”

Kuroo stops for a moment as a sudden realization hits him.

“Wait, don’t tell me that was also the reason you pestered Oikawa? Because you liked him?”

Ushijima gives Kuroo a disapproval look. “No, I don’t like Oikawa in that way. I just thought he has a good potential.”

“Huh, it’s been a while since I heard someone saying they don’t have a crush on Oikawa,” Kuroo jokingly says, although he genuinely surprises to find someone not swoon by the charm of Oikawa Tooru. “Then what kind of person that you like?”

It takes a while for Ushijima to answer him but once he does, he’s looking at his feet instead.

“You.”

“...Me?”

Ushijima nods, still not looking at Kuroo.

“Because I like talking to you. Although we only start talking today, I feel like we have a good chemistry and I genuinely want to know you better. I also admire you for your volleyball skill and I think you’re handsome even with your hair like that.”

“Ugh, that’s a low blow, Ushijima-kun, talking about my hair like that,” he says, attempting on a joke but it doesn’t help much with the tense air that suddenly surrounding Ushijima.

He can see that Ushijima is saying the truth from how his cheeks slightly pink and his eyes flicker at Kuroo once or twice. _Huh_ , he never thought the great Ushijima Wakatoshi can be a shy person.

Kuroo already lost count at how many times Ushijima makes his surprised this morning alone but really, it makes him a really interesting person in Kuroo’s eyes.

Then his foul mouth is running first before his mind can’t stop it.

“Then maybe we should try it?”

“Try what?”

“Dating.”

Finally, Ushijima looks up to meet with Kuroo’s gaze, his eyes widen in shock.

“Okay, maybe not dating as in being boyfriends right at this moment. Maybe like having a few dates to get to know each other?” Kuroo suggests, “I like to get to know you better too.”

Ushijima seems like he stops breathing for a moment, surprised at the sudden turn of event, but he quickly regains his bearings as he pulls out his phone. “Then let’s exchange numbers.”

“Okay.”

“Can I send you a text?”

“Yeah, you can even call me if you want to.”

“Okay.”

For the first time that day, Kuroo sees a smile blooms in Ushijima’s face and his heart can’t help to flutter at that.

—

**(8:05 am) Kuroo: hey actually ushijima is not as bad as you always said to me :)))**

 

**(8:06 am) Oikawa: ajhfhkahdhhAK**

**(8:06 am) Oikawa: DID YOU REALLY SLEEP WITH HIM**

**(8:06 am) Oikawa: OH WOW**

**(8:07 am) Oikawa: ARE YOU REALLY THAT LOW**

**(8:07 am) Oikawa: YOU ARE SLEEPING WITH OUR OPPONENT**

 

**(8:08 am) Kuroo: hush you’re sleeping with iwa so shut up**

**(8:08 am) Kuroo: but no I didn’t**

 

**(8:09 am) Oikawa: phew thats good**

 

**(8:09 am) Kuroo: ofc we have to go to a date first duh**

**(8:09 am) Kuroo: maybe later we will eventually do that ;)**

 

**(8:10 am) Oikawa: (屮゜Д゜)屮**

**(8:11 am) Oikawa: AHDJDIQBRIXAIKSISQI**

 

**(8:11 am) Iwaizumi: I assumed you are the one who broke oikawa**

**Author's Note:**

> Um yeah I hope that won't be so bad and you guys enjoyed this fic x'D


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